After a long legal fight, he struck an agreement in May with the contractor, Manhattan Kraft Construction Co. Inc., to review the books for the project.

But, he said, it turns out the records he most wanted to see were destroyed long ago.

Antaramian's family partnership sued Manhattan Kraft in February of last year, alleging breach of contract, and sought the audit. The project – near Tin City in downtown Naples – came in over budget and took seven months longer than expected to complete.

Antaramian said he's learned the bid documents for the project were thrown out years ago.

"They actually destroyed them before the litigation was filed to get the documentation," he said.

Bill Dean, a vice president for Manhattan Kraft, had no comment.

Manhattan Kraft was paid nearly $64.9 million for the project. According to Antaramian's lawsuit, the guaranteed maximum price was $58.9 million under the contract.

Antaramian was a partner in Naples Bay Resort.

"I don't know where the money went," he said, noting that's why he asked for the audit. "I just want to understand what was spent and what we are owed back from Kraft."

He said it's not possible to do a true audit without seeing all the bids from subcontractors. The contract required Manhattan Kraft to keep that information for three years after the final payment was made and the final payment hasn't been made yet, Antaramian said.

"We want to see the original bids," he said. "They don't exist anymore."

It appears the documents might have been thrown out when Manhattan Kraft moved its headquarters to Kraft Road off Pine Ridge Road in 2007.

The contractor also has a policy of deleting emails after 30 days, so no information can be obtained that way about the financials of the project, Antaramian said.

"What can I do now?" he asked. "We can go back to the judge and complain they don't have the documents. But I don't know what good that would do."

In court, Manhattan Kraft's attorney has argued that the contract allowed for "change orders as needed." The company fought the audit until finally reaching the settlement with Antaramian a few months ago.

Antaramian hired PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to do the audit and then learned of the missing information.

"There is no way, without that very fundamental basic accounting information, that even a company like (PricewaterhouseCoopers) can do the audit," he said.

Antaramian is still trying to proceed with an audit.

"We're stumbling forward based on what we have," he said. "We don't even have a list of the subcontractors."